Under Huawei′s Halo, Who′s Reveling and Who Will Weep?

Jin Yuzhi, CEO of Huawei's Intelligent Automotive Solutions BU, recently announced at the "Qiankun Media Day" that by 2026, the number of vehicle models equipped with Huawei Qiankun intelligent driving is expected to exceed 80. By the end of 2026, cumulative installations are projected to reach 3 million vehicles. Qiankun Intelligent Driving ADS 5 and HarmonySpace 6 are also set to be launched sequentially.

Coincidentally, it has been reported that Yu Chengdong sharply criticized the HarmonySpace Cockpit in an internal Huawei work group, saying it supports only "limited functions." He directly pointed out issues such as "rigid logic in tire-pressure alerts" and "redundant reminders for window ventilation at highway speeds," arguing that it lacks scenario prediction capabilities. He even suggested it should be renamed the "HarmonySpace Functional Cockpit" rather than an "Intelligent Cockpit," effectively pouring cold water on the heated push to make the HarmonySpace Cockpit a standard feature.

Interestingly, Qijing, which has not yet been launched, issued an announcement strictly prohibiting the use of related terms such as "Huawei Qijing," while emphasizing that it is a brand jointly developed by GAC and Huawei Qiankun. This once again has sparked market debate over how to define Huawei's role, in light of its long-stated strategic positioning of "not making cars."

In reality, from Harmony Intelligent Mobility's first MPV, Chery LUXEED V9, to its first coupe-style model, SAIC Z7, "Huawei cars" have recently been at the center of intense attention. Competition between the "Jie" and "Jing" lineages is inevitable, leaving other Huawei-branded vehicles increasingly uneasy.

We believe that Harmony Intelligent Mobility's five "Jie" brands, together with GAC Qijing and Dongfeng Yijing, will gradually complete a full product lineup covering sedans, SUVs, and MPVs, spanning mid-range, premium, and luxury segments. This will place them in direct competition with traditional automakers that adopt Huawei's HarmonySpace cockpit and Qiankun intelligent solutions.

As automotive intelligence becomes increasingly homogenized and differentiation fades, competition inevitably returns to the elusive concept of brand. In collaborating with Huawei, surrendering one's soul does not necessarily mean gaining rebirth. What sells remains the Huawei brand itself—not the automaker's own brand.

The electric and intelligent vehicle market created by Tesla and emerging players such as NIO, XPeng, and Li Auto has left traditional automakers struggling for a long time. Aside from a few companies like Geely Auto, Great Wall Motor, and GAC AION that insist on full-stack in-house development, Huawei Qiankun Intelligence has become a lifeline for many others.

A massive Huawei-branded display and a small red Huawei ADS badge can instantly give a new car built-in traffic and attention—but they can also cause an entire brand to disappear under Huawei's halo. The idea of "losing one's soul" is not alarmist rhetoric. More importantly, once the soul is gone, control over one's physical and spiritual freedom must still remain in one's own hands.

Huawei Qiankun Intelligence is widely recognized online as one of the best intelligent vehicle solutions available. Yet some automakers still choose to keep it at arm's length. The reason is not Huawei's pricing or tough negotiating stance, but rather the fact that Qiankun is a fully integrated, unified solution. Huawei is unwilling to develop customized versions for individual automakers.

Mainstream automakers are reluctant to give up their own brand characteristics. In terms of brand leadership, technological controllability, and development rhythm, they prefer to keep flexibility and strategic freedom firmly in their own hands. They find it hard to imagine a future in which every major product launch must wait for Huawei to determine the order of appearance.

We see companies such as BYD, Geely, and Chery persisting with full-stack in-house development in intelligent cockpits and driver-assistance systems. They prioritize self-reliance—or at the very least, ensuring that technology is "used for their own purposes"—so that strategic initiative remains firmly under their control.

At one time, the lifeline of electric and intelligent vehicles was firmly held by battery manufacturers. Today, no automaker is willing to stake its future entirely on third-party suppliers unless it has absolutely no alternative.

Whether it is SERES or Dongfeng VOYAH, some automakers have achieved a turnaround or historic breakthroughs by leveraging Huawei's intelligent vehicle solutions. This has created a market illusion that "as long as you have Huawei, you will win."

We must acknowledge that Huawei Qiankun Intelligence has enabled automotive intelligence to iterate at the largest scale and fastest pace. HarmonySpace cockpits and ADS driving assistance represent top-tier intelligent capabilities. However, while the first automaker to adopt Huawei intelligence achieved a historic breakthrough, the second is merely going with the flow.

Beyond Tesla and the new Chinese EV startups, traditional automakers are rapidly catching up in intelligent cockpits. Examples include Dongfeng Nissan's Nissan OS, Geely's Flyme Auto, and Great Wall's Coffee OS. In terms of hardware specifications, UI design, and functionality, these systems have already reached industry-leading levels while establishing strong brand identities—providing the confidence and capability to compete head-on.

Huawei's intelligence was once a lifeline—sometimes even the only chance of survival. But once the opportunity for a first launch is missed, and the entire market is saturated with Huawei intelligence, the real test begins: whether automakers that rely on Huawei merely want to "coast to victory," much like the Chinese shareholders of joint-venture automakers in the past.

The automotive market of 2026 will no longer be defined by a single competitive advantage. It will be a contest of cost and efficiency across R&D and manufacturing, as well as a comprehensive comparison of design, energy consumption, and intelligence.

Huawei's intelligent solutions will still be among the best options available to automakers in 2026. Yet beneath these uniform "souls," automakers must at least retain control over their own bodies. The real question is whether they have realized that the automotive market of 2026 will never return to what it once was.

Thank you for reading，personal opinion, does not constitute investment advice.